175: Something strange happened in the Zhang family mansion!

The Zhang family was originally a small wealthy merchant in Fu City, selling silk and cloth.

The Zhang family even had a hand in the cloth business in the towns outside Fu City.

Half a year ago, the Zhang family's eldest son, Zhang Fusheng, took first place in the Fu City examination, becoming a scholar of Jingtai Prefecture.

This made the Zhang family incredibly prominent for a time, but they did not know that this incident would also bring about a great disaster.

This was because Xiao Chenliang, the third Young Master of the Jingtai Prefecture Governor, also participated in the Fu City examination.

Even before the examination, Xiao Chenliang had already sent people to warn all the examinees.

He was the only one qualified to be the Jingtai Prefecture scholar this time.

If anyone dared to defy his order, there would only be a dead end.

The result was predictable: Zhang Fusheng, who had just become a scholar, suffered the ruin of his family in less than half a year.

Of course, this was only one reason; another reason was the Zhang family's daughter, Zhang Yingxue.

It is said that Xiao Chenliang once took a liking to Zhang Yingxue and wanted to marry her as a concubine, but Zhang Yingxue refused him.

Zhang Yingxue even stated directly that she had a beloved, Wei Zhize, the Young Master of the Wei family, who was her childhood sweetheart.

However, after Xiao Chenliang made his declaration, the entire Wei family, old and young, all left Fu City.

Zhang Yingxue's beloved, Wei Zhichen, whom she had longed for, left without a word, disappearing without a trace.

After hearing these words, Lu Xuan's tightly furrowed brows relaxed, and he prepared to get up and leave.

It seems the source of the Yin energy is very likely in that Zhang family mansion.

In the direction of South City, in a densely populated area, various mansions and buildings were situated all around.

However, in such an area full of mansions, on one of the main streets, people were rarely seen, and it appeared exceptionally desolate.

Nothing else, because in the center of this street, there was a large mansion.

On the lintel of the mansion's gate, a plaque hung crookedly, with the two large characters 'Zhang Family' written on it.

Outside the Zhang family mansion, a middle-aged man in his thirties stood.

The man wore a black short robe and held a large saber in his hand.

However, this man guarding the Zhang family mansion looked like a loafer.

He pressed the tip of his saber against the ground, then leaned his body against the blade, seemingly wanting to use the sturdy blade to stand more comfortably.

The middle-aged man glanced at the empty street around him, feeling utterly bored.

Immediately, the middle-aged man cursed softly.

“Bah, how unlucky!”

“I don't know how much longer this damned mission will last.”

“Why haven't Brother Li and the others returned yet? I'm almost starving.”

After cursing, the middle-aged man suddenly remembered something pleasant, and a wicked smile appeared on his face.

“However, Zhang Yingxue, that crazy woman, still has a unique flavor.”

“As expected of a young lady from a prominent family, the Zhang family's daughter, with such delicate skin.”

“Thanks to Young Master Xiao's generosity, we mud-footed peasants can enjoy such a beauty.”

“It's just a pity; I hadn't had enough fun before that crazy woman took the opportunity to disfigure herself.”

“Otherwise, this master would have sought some fun with her.”

Just as the man was recalling what had happened with that graceful body.

Clang, clang, clang!

From inside the Zhang family mansion, sounds of something hard being struck echoed.

Upon hearing these noises, the man immediately picked up the saber that was standing on the ground.

“Huh?”

“Didn't I tie up that crazy woman?”

“Why is there still movement inside?”

“Could it be that I didn't tie her tightly enough, and that crazy woman broke free?”

When the man thought of this possibility, he quickly ran towards the inside of the Zhang family mansion.

He had tied up Zhang Yingxue, that crazy woman, just to get some fresh air outside.

Now that Zhang Yingxue, that crazy woman, had broken free, who knew what crazy things she would do.

Young Master Xiao had given orders: Zhang Yingxue must not die before he had had his fill of fun.

Because Xiao Chenliang wanted to plunge Zhang Yingxue into the pain of despair.

He wanted her to know the consequences of defying him in the first place.

Xiao Chenliang's inhumane actions even made the Black Hawk Gang, who killed without batting an eye, tremble with fear.

The man jogged all the way to the place where Zhang Yingxue was being held.

It was the ancestral hall courtyard of the Zhang family mansion.

In the courtyard, a woman in a tattered red dress, with dirt-matted hair, lay disheveled over her shoulders.

The woman was standing with her back to the main door, looking at the ancestral hall's offering table in the center of the courtyard.

However, what was suffocating was that on the ancestral hall's offering table in front of the woman.

What was offered there were not common spirit tablets, but more than a dozen spherical objects.

The spherical objects still had a lot of hair, but they had already been stained dark black.

It seemed those were dried bloodstains!

That's right, those were the heads of the Zhang family members, Zhang Yingxue's closest relatives.

The heads Zhang Yingxue had to face every day were from those she held dearest.

After the man just now walked in from outside the courtyard gate.

When he saw Zhang Yingxue standing there blankly, the anxious and uneasy feeling in his heart finally relaxed.

Then, the man cursed and walked towards Zhang Yingxue,

“Damn it, you damned crazy woman, you actually managed to break free.”

When he was less than half a meter from Zhang Yingxue, a fierce glint flashed in the man's eyes, and he directly raised his right foot and kicked towards Zhang Yingxue.

“Dare to defy Young Master Xiao's orders? This is the fate of your Zhang family!”

However, when the man kicked, it seemed as if there was no obstruction whatsoever.

The man's right foot passed directly through Zhang Yingxue's body.

“This, this, this, you...!”

After this scene occurred, the man's mind instantly went blank, and his body stiffened.

A cold breeze swept through, gently lifting the tattered red dress draped over Zhang Yingxue's body.

The sight beneath the red dress was reflected deep in the man's pupils.

It was a skeleton!

Zhang Yingxue's body had turned into a skeleton?

She had become a ghost?

This was the last thought in the man's mind!

Because Zhang Yingxue, in his eyes, had slowly turned her head, a full one hundred and eighty degrees.

Zhang Yingxue's terrifying face made the man's hair stand on end, and a faint chill surged from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

It was a pale, emotionless face, covered with spiderweb-like scars, and her eyes were white like dead fish eyes.

“Ghost!”

“Help...”

Before the man could finish speaking, his body rapidly decayed in broad daylight.

Finally, it turned into white bone ash, scattered on the ground.

“Where is Zhou Yifei??”

“That bastard, didn't he just tell us he was waiting for us at the mansion gate?”

“He should be guarding Zhang Yingxue, that woman. Let's go, let's go in and see.”

At this moment, outside the courtyard, four more figures appeared.

They were the people Lu Xuan had encountered earlier in the inn.